Rug cleaning machine



March 19, 1957 c, K M T AL 2,785,560

RUG CLEANING MACHINE Filed Sept. 2, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOIFJS Czmewc: ,9. Kenya Wat/4r? .D. TEMP ,64, 2 M & AL-ma JTTG/P/VEFS March 1957 c. A. KETCHUM ET AL RUG CLEANING MACHINE Filed Sept. 2. 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States 2,785,560 RUG CLEANENG MAcmNn Application September 2, 1954, Serial No. 453,878

4 Claims. (Cl. 63--2J5) This invention relates to improvements in a machine for acting upon an elongated strip of material, such as a rug, and relates specifically to an automatic control for turning on and turning off nozzle means controlling fluid streams acting upon the strip of material at spaced points along its path.

One of the objects or" the present invention is to provide in a machine for acting upon an elongated strip of material, fluid spray means operating on the strips at points spaced along its path and including a spray downstream along said path, of means responsive to the leading edge of the strip of material for causing a turning on of the spray means, and means responsive to the trailing edge of the strip to start the operation of time delay means which is operatively connected with the downstream spray for causing shut-off of the latter a predetermined period of time after actuation of the time delay means responsive to the trailing edge of the strip.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a time delay means for operating one of the remote nozzles by an energizing medium stored in the time delay means after the valve actuating energy has been turned off, together with adjustable means for bleeding oil the energizing medium so that the nozzle will close responsive to a predetermined reduction of the energizing medium.

Specifically, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide expansible chamber means operatively connected with one of the remote nozzles for opening the same with a pressure fluid supply for the expansible chamber means, there being an operative connection between a rug sensing means and the control for the pressure fluid supply for initiating the supply when a rug enters the device and for terminating the supply when the trailing edge of the rug passes the sensing means, together with means for trapping the pressure fluid in the expansible chamber means after the termination of the supply and thereafter the bleeding-off means comprises a passage communicating with the chamber of the expansible chamber means and the atmosphere, through the control of an adjustable needle valve.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and description and the essential features thereof will be set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a central sectional view through a rug cleaning machine adapted for the embodiment of the present invention, the machine comprising two parallel main frame members and the view of Fig. 1 being taken centrally between the end frames;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic layout of water and detergent supply lines for the various spray nozzles, the pressure fluid supply system for control of the nozzles and the operative connection between the rug sensing. device and the pressure fluid supply control member; while Fig. 3 is a central sectional view, enlarged, through atent O 2,785,560 Patented Mar. 19, 1957 ICC the time delay means associated with certain of the control valves.

While this invention might be applied to various types of machines for acting upon elongated strips of material, we have chosen to illustrate the same in connection with a rug cleaning machine which is more fully disclosed and claimed in our copending application Serial No. 453,556, filed September 1, 1954.

It is sufficient for the present purposes to briefly describe the rug cleaning machine as Comprising two main end frames for the machine parallel to each other arid spaced apart slightly greater than the width of a rug to be treated. Mounted in this frame and extending for a major portioh ot the distance between the two end frames it} are a plurality of devices for handling the rug through the machine. These include an auxiliary feed roll 11 on which the rug is originally started, a driven main feed roll 12 which carries the rug past scrubbing rushes 13, then beneath a drag roll 14 to engagement with a back scrubbing brush roll 15 which operates against a back up plate 16, after which the rug passes to conveyor means 17 which either discharges the rug or delivers the same to a wringing machine. The conveyor Eh, partially shown at the bottom of Fig. l, is for the purpose of returning a rug toward the front end of the machine if desired. The rug is acted upon by water and detergent sprays as will presently appear and this liquid material is controlled by the front pan 19 and the sides or" the frameso that it all drops into a. drain pan 20 at the bottom of the machine from which it may be drained through an outlet indicated at 21. An open support grille 22 is provided at the only place where the end of a rug might drop into the pan Zll so as to prevent this.

Various sprays are provided as follows; A pro-wetting spray 22-, a top detergent spray 24-, a first top rinse spray 253, a back detergent spray 26, a back rinse spray 27, and a final top rinse spray 23.

The supply of water under pressure is indicated generally at 29 as including the supply header and its various branches up to the valves. The detergent supply is indicated generally at fitl and includes the main header and its branch. A supply of pressure fiuid such as air is indicated at El and is controlled by valve 32.

The valves controlling the supply of water from the supply 2? to sprays 23, 25, 27 and 28 are shown at 33, 35, 37 and 38 respectively. The valves for the control of detergent to sprays 24 and as are indicated at 34 and 3s respectively.

The entire valve control system is under the control or" a rug sensing device which consists of a roller 3% rotatably mounted in a bellcrank til which in turn is rigidly attached to a shaft 41 which in turn carries a cam 42 rigidly on the shaft. The shaft 41 is rotatably mounted in the main frame iii. A normally open electric switch 43 is mounted in fixed position on the frame adjacent the cam 42 so that a slight oscillation of the cam counter clockwise from the position of Fig. 2 will cause closing of switch 43. This switch is in series between a source of electrical current L1 and a solenoid. winding 44 and the source L2. The armature Mlaof the solenoid is connected by link d5 pivotally mounted on the frame at 46 so as to engage the stem 32a of valve 32 and open it against the bias of spring 32b which normally holds it closed. This opening occurs only so long as the solenoid is energized and opens the valve to admit air from the source 31 to the conduit system generally marked 47. This conduit system supplies air to the valves 33 through 38 inclusive to open each of these normally closed valves and admit liquid when the air system is energized.

One of the merits of the present invention is that it permits the use of single rug sensing device 39 to actuate all of the valves in the system. This device per se is old, being disclosed in U. S. Patent Nos. 1,750,496 and 1,814,866, granted to W. T. Stride March 11, 1930, and July 14, 1931, respectively. These Stride patents teach the use of individual actuators at each spray point but, in the present instance, this would call for the expense of a multiplicity of controllers and it would be diificult in the presently described machine to install and service these parts in certain of the locations due to the close and compact arrangement and in accessibility of some of the parts.

While it is commercially feasible and desirable to turn on all of the valves at once, it is necessary and desirable to delay the closing of valves 35, 37 and 38 after the trailing edge or". the rug has released the device 39 so that the last end of the rug will be properly rinsed. Valves 35, 37 and 38 are, therefore, constructed according to Fig. 3. The valve body 48 has a valve member 49 normally pressed by spring 50 against the valve seat 51. On the other end of the valve stem 49a is a piston 52 having a guide portion 52a which fits into a suitable bore in the valve body. The guide portion is sealed by an O-ring 53 and the piston is likewise sealed by an O-ring 54. Secured to the main valve body by screws, not shown, is a time delay head 55 which is sealed to the main valve body by a gasket 56. This delay head has a passageway 57 in communication with the air conduit system 47. An opening 58 out of passageway 57 is normally closed by a ball check valve 59 spring pressed toward closed position by a spring 60. When the ball is raised from its seat, it provides communication with a passageway 61 which leads to chamber 62 above the piston 52.. Another small passageway 63 is provided between passageway 61 and passageway 57. This passageway is controlled by a needle valve 64 which is threadedly adjustable by means of a head 65.

The air driven actuators for valves 33, 34 and 36 are like Fig. 3 without the delay head. In other words, conduit 47 and passageway 57 communicate directly with the chamber 62 above piston 52 without any ball check valve or needle valve by-pass.

There is no necessity for a delayed closing of valves 33 and 34 since the sprays they control are located at the control point. The back soap spray 26 may be turned off at the same time because suflicient soap is retained in the rotary brush 15 to treat the last Section of the rug.

The operation of our device should now be clear. As the leading edge of a rug passes beneath the roller 39, the cam 42 is moved slightly in a counter-clockwise direction and engages the actuator 43a of switch 43 so as to I close the switch and complete the circuit through solenoid winding 44. Energization of this solenoid causes opening of air valve 32 admitting air through the system 47 to the valves 33 through 38. Each of these valves is then opened against the bias of its spring 50, it being understood that in valves 35, 37 and 38, the entering air merely lifts the ball check valve 59 off its seat. When the trailing edge of the rug passes beyond the sensing member 39, switch 43 is permitted to open which deenergizes solenoid 4-4 permitting spring 32b to close the air valve and connect the conduit system 47 with an exhaust port 32c which is open to atmosphere. Immediate evacuation of the air from the chambers 62 of valves 33, 34 and 36 permits these valves to close immediately under the bias of their springs In valves 35, 37 and 38, however, air is trapped in the chambers 62 of these valves by the immediate reseating of the check valve 59. The air in the chambers 62 of these time delay valves must bleed out of passage 63 past needle valve 64 into the passageway 57 for exhaust. The rate at which this air is bled away depends upon the setting of the needle valve 64 in each or" these three rinse valves. By this means, valves 35, 37 and 38 are adjusted to close in that order, each one cutting off its spray just after the trailing edge of the rug passes that point.

While each of the several sprays may extend across the full width of the machine, in practice, certain of them, such as the detergent sprays 24 and 26 will ordinarily consist of separate spray pipes covering given portions of the machine width, each controlled by its own valve and a respective control member 39 in that particular lane of the machine. Thus, a narrow rug or runner will turn on the sprays only in its own lane. This feature, however, is not novel here but is shown in the Stride patents mentioned above.

Valve 66 is a manually operated valve adapted to shut ofif air line 6'] connecting the expansible chambers 62 of valves 33 and 36. If the operator decides not to soap the back of the rug, he turns valve 66 to shut-oil" posi tion.

it will be understood that the brushes 13 are actuated in the same manner as the brushes 17 in United States Letters Patent No. 2,304,592, granted December 8, 1942, to Robert C. Pauly.

What we claim is:

1. in a machine for acting upon an elongated strip of material having means for feeding the strip along a path and having fluid spray means operating upon said strip at points spaced along its path including a spray downstream along said path, the combination therewith of means responsive to the moving trailing edge of said strip and time delay means operatively connected with said last named means and with said downstream spray for causing shut-ofi of the latter a predetermined period of time after actuation of said means responsive to said trailing edge.

2. in a rug cleaning machine having means for feeding a rug along a path and having nozzle means control-' ling fluid streams acting upon said rug at spaced points along its path, rug sensing means operatively associated with said nozzle means to cause opening thereof, said sensing means having operative connections with some of said nozzle means causing closing of the latter when a rug has passed said sensing means, and time delay means operatively connected with said sensing means and with other of said nozzle means for causing closing of said other nozzle means a predetermined period of time after actuation of said time delay means.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said time delay means comprises energizing medium storage means operatively associated with said other nozzle means for holding it open, adjustable means for bleeding off said energizing medium, and means for closing said other nozzle means responsive to predetermined reduction of said energizing medium.

4-. The combination of claim 2 including expansible chamber means operatively connected with said other nozzle means for opening the same, a pressure fluid supply for said expansible chamber means, a control for said supply, operative connections between said sensing means and said control for initiating said supply when a rug operates said sensing means and for terminating said supply when the trailing edge of a rug passes said sensing means, means for trapping pressure fluid in said expansible chamber means responsive to termination of said supply, and bleeding-oi? means for said pressure fluid comprising a passage communicating between the chamber of said expansible chamber means and atmosphere.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Shampay Dec. 8, 1925 

